Medical images of various body parts may be formed in numerous ways for example but not limited to, X-ray radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), medical ultrasonography or ultrasound, endoscopy, elastography, tactile imaging, thermography, medical photography and nuclear medicine functional imaging techniques.
Volume rendering techniques have been developed to enable computed tomography (CT), MRI and ultrasound scanning software to produce three-dimensional (3D) images for the physician. Traditionally CT and MRI scans produced two-dimensional (2D) static output on film. To produce 3D images, many scans are made, then combined by computers to produce a 3D model, which can then be manipulated by the physician. 3D ultrasounds are produced using a somewhat similar technique.
US Patent Publication 2010/0316268 of Liang, et al., describes a procedure for pre-operating assessment of one or more anatomical structures generated from medical images and provided in a rendered 3D space, and an imaging system, apparatus, and computer program, that operate in accordance with the procedure. The procedure comprises providing one or more safety margin indicators in the rendered 3D space, each having a shape corresponding to that of a respective one of the anatomical structures within an organ and having a predetermined size of safety margin from the respective one of the anatomical structures. The procedure also comprises manipulating at least one of the shape and predetermined size of safety margin of at least one of the safety margin indicators in the rendered 3D space, and immediately providing a rendering in the 3D space of a manipulated version of the at least one safety margin indicator. Also provided is a procedure for defining at least one cutting surface to resect one or more medical anatomical structures using an imaging system.
US Patent Publication 2009/0028403 of Bar-Aviv, et al., describes a system for analyzing a source medical image of a body organ. The system comprises an input unit for obtaining the source medical image having three dimensions or more, a feature extraction unit that is designed for obtaining a number of features of the body organ from the source medical image, and a classification unit that is designed for estimating a priority level according to the features.
US Patent Publication 2003/0152897 of Geiger, describes a method for navigating a viewpoint of a virtual endoscope in a lumen of a structure. The method includes the steps of determining an initial viewpoint of the virtual endoscope, the initial viewpoint having a first center point and first direction, determining a longest ray from the initial viewpoint to the lumen, the longest ray having a first longest ray direction, determining a second direction between the first direction of the initial viewpoint and the first longest ray direction, turning the viewpoint to the second direction and moving the initial viewpoint a first predetermined distance in a first direction of the initial viewpoint, calculating a second center point of the viewpoint, moving the viewpoint to the second center point.